Riche at Harrahs is VERY disappointing

Cannot recommend Riche. Waited 35 minutes with a reservation. Dining room was not crowded. Hostess told me one reason for the wait. Manager told me another reason for the wait. Food was delayed and an excuse was given. There are so many wonderful restaurants in New Orleans...Riche is NOT one of them. Manager was indifferent that I was angry and disappointed with our whole dining experience. Todd English should stay in Boston.

I have not been, but some friends of mine ordered the bouillabaisse and said the lobster was translucent and the bowl was ice cold, making the overall dish at best lukewarm. Sounded awful. When they complained they were offered a free drink. How about a free dinner? There have been a couple other postings and I don't think anything has been too favorable. Why haven't they done something about all the complaints?

Tuesday, 1/9/07 – Lunch at Riche. We go here for their seven-onion soup. However, the soup was not up to par as usual (we didn’t find out why until Friday). We had the mussels with frits (enough for two people) which were wonderful.

Friday, 1/12/07 – Lunch at Riche again. John Besh sat down next to us after we arrived. We ordered the soup again. As we are eating it, this woman comes out from the kitchen and speaks to John Besh and I knew I knew her from somewhere. We find out she was Tiffani from Top Chef, Season 1 on Bravo. She is the sous chef at Riche. We call the manager over and complain about the soup. He goes into the kitchen and comes back and tells us that his sous chef said it was too much trouble to cut up 7 different types of onions for the soup, that it would take her all day I could believe it knowing how Tiffani was on the show. Additionally, our waiter Jonathan (great guy) told us that Tiffani reported him for smoking in the men’s room. My question is what was she doing in the men’s room in the first place (LOL). Todd English is known for his 7 onion soup and here she is changing it. It was too much. Mussels and frits again (quite good).

I just found this out about Riche. It turns out that Todd English just sold the rights to use his name to HARRAH's for the restaurant. He has very little if anythign to do with it. He doesn't hire, train, or even know the staff.

This situation arises often in Las Vegas, involving world-class chefs and the casinos. Michael Mina (SF) has several there, and some are similar to what you describe. It really shows in those. Even the staff at his eponymous restaurant in SF disavow any relationship to those. Too bad, as it reflects negatively on the chef(s) involved.